Licensing information for Mexico - XE

Prepared by: OH2MCN - Veke & XE2AC - Luis & VE7QRZ/XE1 - Peter & XF3/EA3BT, XE1NJ - Memo, XE1/N9VIU - George, WD9EWK - Patrick, WD9EWK - Patrick, XE1/DL6KAC - Christian, DL6KAC - Christian
Status: April 1997, Oct 97, Nov 97, May '98, Mar '00, Apr '00, Aug '00 (complete update), Jan '01, Nov '01, Feb '02, March '02, Nov '05, Apr '07

Intro: You can get a visitor's license in Mexico if you follow the instructions given in the application forms. It should now be easy and streight forward. The comment from WD9EWK, Patrick, "This is not an easy, or inexpensive, process" is still relevant today.

PTT (from appl form):
CoFeTel
Area de Aficionados
Av. Telecomunicaciones s/n
Col. Leyes de Reforma
09310 México, D.F.

Phone: +52 (5) 691-7185
Fax: +52 (5) 691-7601

Paperwork needed:
* Application for the permit.  There are 2 forms available from CoFeTel, form AFIEXT01 and full text as *.pdf from here for non-USA amateurs, and form AFIEXT02 and   *full text as *.pdf from here for USA amateurs.   (The *.pdf open OK with Adobe Acrobat.) From what I have been told, one of these forms must be used - the logo must appear in the upper-left corner of the first page.  Translated versions of these forms are generally not acceptable, according to CoFeTel. (Some CoFeTel offices may be flexible and accept the English translation without the Logo.)
* Two photocopies of your amateur license
* Two photocopies of your FMT or other Mexican immigration document (or photocopy of the relevant passport page, if something indicating the length of time you are allowed in Mexico is stamped in there)
* Two photocopies of your passport's identification page, or - if you do not have a passport - two photocopies of your birth certificate (these do not have to be certified copies of your birth certificate)
* Letter of invitation from a Mexican amateur (not required for USA amateurs, may not be required of amateurs from other countries, but listed as a requirement on the AFIEXT01 form)


The best way to get a license:
Follow the instructions given on the pages of WD9EWK Patrick or on this site (updated 10 March 2003)
[and there is another one by N9VIU]
Price: about 82 USD
Special calls:
How long before you can operate? one day ... 60 days
License restrictions:
Customs:
Useful local contacts: see below and above
Places to operate from:
Notes:

"Patrick E. STODDARD" < [email protected] >


DX Holiday XE - Mexico


Addition From: Christian Buenger <[email protected]
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 

Hi Veikko,

I have some updates for the process of getting a reciprocal licence here in Mexico. I have set up a web page with all the necessary information at http://ham-blog.de/reciprocal-licence-xe-permit.html . The process here in Mexico City (D.F.) is a little different to the process described by Patrick, WD9EWK and I think the information on the website might be a helpful addition for those who want to apply for a reciprocal licence.

I will later put scanned images of the licence respectively of the "forma fiscal 5" on the webpage but right now I don't have access to a scanner. I hope I am able to do that later.

73 Christian, XE1/DL6KAC


Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 10:25:36 -0700
Addition From: Patrick STODDARD <[email protected]>

Hi Veke!

It's been a while since I sent you any information regarding Mexican ham permits. The process is still the same, except the fees have gone up to 887 pesos through the end of 2003 (around USD 80, depending on the day's exchange rate), and I have been able to get a "conversion chart" for US ham license classes and what the Mexican authorities consider them equal to down there. According to CoFeTel (Mexican "FCC"), US Advanced or Extra class licensees receive Mexican Class I permits (full privileges, 1250W PEP on HF/6m and 500W on bands above 144 MHz), US Technician Plus and General class licensees receive Mexican Class II permits (full privileges, 500W on HF/6m and 200W on bands above 144 MHz), and US Novice and Technician class licensees receive Mexican Novice permits (CW on 7.000-7.050, phone on 7.050-7.100 and 144.148 MHz, 50W for AM/SSB or 45W for FM).

Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK


Addition From: Patrick STODDARD <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 19:07:40 +0000

Subject: new XE permit application files

Hi Veke!

I made another preiodic check of the Mexican government web pages related to foreign ham-radio permits, and found new application files on the web page:

http://www.agitec.gob.mx/requi/permiso.html

The two files on this page are still in .RTF format, and still large (approximately 1Mb each). I downloaded these files and converted them to .PDF format, and in doing that the files are now between 17K and 24K each - much smaller! I also did something different this time - I made versions of those files with a single page in each, the application without those other 2 pages with the instructions in Spanish. I will post both versions of each application on my web pages, and you may do the same - or you can just post the smaller files with only the application in them. The files:

xe-non-usa.pdf  (form for non-US amateurs, 1 page, 17803 bytes)
xe-non-usa-full.pdf (form plus instructions for non-US amateurs, 3 pages, 24368 bytes)
xe-usa.pdf (form for US amateurs, 1 page, 17839 bytes)
xe-usa-full.pdf (form plus instructions for US amateurs, 3 pages, 24490 bytes)

Both applications mention that foreign amateurs are forbidden from operating on Mexican islands, and this is apparently being enforced. Two hams from England were planning to operate from islands off the coast of Baja California in the Pacific Ocean along with a local XE ham, and after other XE hams complained to CoFeTel the permits for the foreigners were cancelled, and so was the DXpedition. I will stress this point, that island operation by foreign hams on Mexican territory is generally forbidden, on my web pages.

I am also working on two PDF files which will contain the application forms, instructions for completing the forms and how to submit them to the Mexican authorities (in English), an outline of the Mexican license class structure and what frequencies are available there, along with other information. When I finish these files, I will post them on my web pages at qsl.net and also send you copies of them for your pages.

Off to Canada next month, where I hope to write the Canadian exams and get my own Canadian license/call instead of signing WD9EWK/VE7 on my trips there. Plus more trips down to Mexico before my current XE permit expires in July.

73! Patrick WD9EWK/7 & XE2/WD9EWK

Patrick STODDARD E-mail: [email protected]
Glendale, Arizona, USA ICBM: 33.5 N 112.2 W


Addition From: Patrick STODDARD <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2002

Hi Veke!

I was in Mexico earlier this week, and filed for yet another XE permit. Same process as before, except the fee is now up to 828 pesos (about US$ 90 at Monday's exchange rate). Permits are still issued from Mexico City, so I won't have the actual document in hand for probably 2 months, but the policies about allowing hams to operate after filing the paperwork and paying the fee have not changed - it is still OK to operate while waiting for the actual paper.

Patrick WD9EWK/7 (and, again, XE2/WD9EWK)


Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 23:02:07 +0000
Addition From: Patrick STODDARD [email protected]

Subject: changes to my XE licensing page

Hi!

I just completed a rewrite of my web pages related to getting an XE amateur permit. The link to that has not changed: http://www.qsl.net/wd9ewk/xe-permit.html
but I have taken the original page and split it into a few smaller pages. In addition, I now have a page listing the amateur band allocations in Mexico along with the four license classes available in Mexico and what privileges go with each class. Other than changing the original page into a few pages, all other information (copies of application forms, copies of regulations documents, image files showing the actual permit and a receipt issued by an SCT office) is still available.

73! Patrick WD9EWK/7

Patrick STODDARD E-mail: [email protected]
Glendale, Arizona, USA ICBM: 33.5 N 112.2 W


Addition From: "Patrick E. STODDARD" <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2001 16:52:53 +0000

Subject: more XE information and comments

Hi Veke! & Happy New Year to you!

I just got back from a nice weekend in northern Baja California, visiting friends and - yes - working the HF radio. Again, a fun experience. Being in Mexico over the New Year's holiday was great. And, I can say I have a log entry for 1 Jan 2001 at 0001 UTC - by helping a W7 ham have the same entry in his log.

I have gone through my XE permit web page and made some minor updates to it. I have also looked at N9VIU's pages, and some of the information on there looks a bit dated. For example, he has a PDF file with what was the application for a permit from several years ago. Those links on my web page (and on your xe.htm page) still work, but instead of dealing with those huge RTF files I converted both applications into PDF form. They are around 52K in size, and I attached them to this message. These are the same applications as you could download directly from the http://www.agitec.gob.mx   web site links, except these have the third (instructions, including payment amount) pages as of the first quarter in 2000.

In addition, N9VIU's pages make reference to an annual report that must be filed. This is a legal requirement where hams report on the number of QSOs made in the last year, to which continents and XE call areas, equipment used, bands used, and other comments regarding the ham's radio activities in the last year. I asked the contact in the SCT (Transport/Communications Ministry) office in Mexicali if this was required of foreigners operating in Mexico with these permits, and he said no. It is possible that different offices, or CoFeTel (Mexico's FCC), may differ on this point, but since my dealings are with this person in this office, I will go with that.

Last week I downloaded the applications from that web site, and they had not been updated since last July, same with other parts of those web pages more relevant to the resident XE hams. I also have these PDF files on my space at QSL.net as well.

According to the contact in the SCT office in Mexicali that handles ham-related stuff, any new permits that are processed in 2001 will be done much faster than in the past - when all paperwork was sent to Mexico City and the permits were generated there. I filed for my current XE permit on 12 September, and it was found in the Mexicali SCT office around 27 December. At least I had the SCT receipt I received when I filed the application and paid the fee in September, that is still considered sufficient authority to operate without the actual permit in hand. In my opinion, I will believe that the process will go faster only when I see it work faster than before. Oh well....

73! Patrick WD9EWK (and XE2/WD9EWK)

Patrick E. Stoddard E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] or [email protected] 
Glendale, Arizona, USA ICBM: 33.5 N 112.2 W


Do You Want a Mexican amateur radio permit? (by WD9EWK, Jan 2001)


Hi all!    September 2000.

I was in Mexicali yesterday (12 September) to file for another 6-month XE permit. This time, I did it all myself, and between the border formalities, the trip to the SCT office to file my application, and the quick trip to a nearby bank to deposit the payment for the permit all of this was done in under 90 minutes.
And my Spanish is not that good. :)
I have rewritten my page with my information on how I dealt with getting my permit in Mexicali:

http://www.qsl.net/wd9ewk/xe-permit.html

A couple of other things I found out yesterday in Mexicali...In the past (including in April when I filed for my initial XE permit), the paperwork would be sent to Mexico City and then the permit is sent back from Mexico City. It took over 10 weeks for me to get my actual permit after the application was filed in Mexicali. I was told that, as of now, the SCT offices outside Mexico City don't have to forward the paperwork to Mexico City - it is done electronically. My new permit document should be in Mexicali in 15 days, I was told. And, in the very near future, the SCT offices will be able to accept the applications and issue the actual permits once again (as was the practice in the early '90s). When that happens, the SCT offices will not be able to vary the terms of the permits, and they are still valid for up to 6 months based on the FMT (tourist card) or other immigration documentation the foreign amateur presents to the SCT office - but the process will mean amateurs will get the permits much faster. It will still cost a bunch of money (yesterday I spent around US$ 100 between the permit and the FMT form), but the process won't be spread out over so many weeks.

If an amateur wants to try to get a permit with modified terms (i.e. a ham wants to operate from an island, or a USA ham wants to operate in a contest from Mexico), only CoFeTel in Mexico City can make that happen.

If I hear anything else, or if I see more changes in the process when I go through it again next February or March, I will let you two know.

73! Patrick

Patrick E. Stoddard E-mail: [email protected] 
Glendale, Arizona, USA ICBM: 33.5 N 112.2 W


Addition From: "Patrick E. Stoddard" <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2000 19:37:00 +0000

Your web site, with all the information you list in there, is impressive. Based on what I saw there, plus some of my own research, I have just obtained a permit to legally operate in Mexico. It is not an inexpensive process, and it can take some time.
I have a ham friend who lives in Mexicali, the Baja California state capital, and he walked my paperwork through the local Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT) office there on my behalf, and I have the receipt from SCT so I can legally operate there now, and the actual permit from Mexico City will
be sent to the Mexicali SCT office, where my friend will retrieve it for me.
I put this information on a small web page: http://www.qsl.net/wd9ewk/xe-permit.html
Based on my experiences, and having a limited grasp of Spanish, I am confident that I could do this entire process myself if I was in Mexicali on a weekday. I could obtain the tourist card (entry visa) at the border, pay its fee, visit the SCT office to file my application, and - if needed - visit a bank near that office to pay the fee and then return the deposit receipt to SCT and get my permit. This process cost me about US$95, so it is not inexpensive.
Some of the information on your web page is - according to the SCT in Mexicali - not correct now. The application forms must look like those applications available from: http://www.agitec.gob.mx/requi/permiso.html and those forms: http://www.agitec.gob.mx/requi/Formato-EUA.rtf or (US hams)
http://www.agitec.gob.mx/requi/Formato-extranjeros.rtf (for non-US hams) are changed every 3 months, to reflect the fee amounts in effect for the current 3-month period (mainly to keep the application fee near US$75). For this permit, I had the help of a Mexicali ham (Alejandro Pereida, XE2BSS) who took care of filing my paperwork with the SCT office and sending the receipt back to me from the US post office in Calexico, California (the city immediately opposite Mexicali on the US-Mexico border there). Next time, I plan on trying this process myself on a weekday when I am there.
For now, with permit in hand, I am looking forward to several trips to northern Sonora and Baja California in the next six months to have fun and justify the expense.

73 from Arizona!

Patrick E. Stoddard
E-mail: [email protected]
Glendale, Arizona, USA
ICBM: 33.5 N 112.2 W

No Microsoft products were used to make this message - Linux!

The currency conversion rates of the UNDP are on gopher://gopher.undp.org/00/uncurr/exch_rates (Veke OH2MCN)


Addition From: "George & Roberta Warren" <[email protected]>
Subject: REQUEST POST FOR DISTRIBUTION
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000

Colleague,

I have translated the Mexican Amateur Radio law into English and written other information concerning reciprocal permits. These could be important to the many U.S. and Canadian hams who operate in Mexico or intend to do so. To my knowledge, it is not otherwise available. It is sent here requesting your aid in free electronic distribution to interested amateur radio operators.

One is attached (see MEXICAN AMATEUR RADIO LAW (*.pdf) on main menu) fully formatted as a PDF file and requires use of Adobe Acrobat Reader. That software may be downloaded free from the Internet at http://www.adobe.com.

I would appreciate being informed of any disposition of the material you may make.

Thank you and 73,

George Warren, XE1/N9VIU
March 14, 2000
Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico
Email: [email protected]


Addition from: Josep Gibert, EA3BT / MEXICO'97 : XF3/EA3BT - XF3/EA3AOK

If you are interested in operating from Mexico (XE) and want to obtain the licence, you must get in touch with the FMRE (Federacion Mexicana de Radioexperimentadores) or get in touch with Mr. Guillermo Núñez Jiménez, XE1NJ, who is the FMRE Director in front of the SCT (the Mexican FCC). His e-mail is [email protected] , and he will kindly help you.

Time: You must apply for your licence at least one month before your arrival in the country.
Cost: The cost of the licence is really expensive: $70 (U.S. dollars). It'll be valid for a month.
Calls given: XE?/your callsing (?= disctrict number). XF prefix if you go to an island.
Where can you operate from: We made it from the hotels, all the facilities given.
Here is all the information, Veikko. If you need anything else, please ask it from us.

The problem is that we got in touch with Mr. Guillermo Nuñez by luck and he kindly helped us with the licenses, but we dind't want to tell our information source before he said we could. Now we have his permision, so it can be made public and of course you can include it on your web page.

It's been a pleasure to help you once again,

Josep Gibert, EA3BT & Nuria Font, EA3AOK

13.11.1997

P.D. Veikko, if you still don't know us, please check our web page at: http://www.redestb.es/personal/j_gibert

Comments are welcomed!


Comments from Peter Malacarne: I operated in Mexico for four months in 1996 as VE7QRZ/XE1. If anyone is planning a trip into that area bring your 2 meter, I also had a tremendous 6 meter opening that lasted about 10 hours into the southern US.

Peter Malacarne VE7QRZ/XE1 < [email protected]>

1997-10-09


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